As Uber comes closer to becoming a reality in Chatham-Kent, local residents are showing interest in the service.
Organizer Florin Marksteiner held a public Uber Chatham-Kent meeting Wednesday evening at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre to go over the details of the service and how drivers can join.
Local resident Dominic Doforno says he came to the meeting to become an informed citizen.
"As the general manager of the Portuguese club, it's something that interests me, because a lot of times patrons ask for rides and I want to be able to say call Uber with confidence. This will hopefully give me some information," he says.
Doforno says he is also interested in finding out what the pricing will be like with the service. He adds that he is always curious about safety as well and wants to learn the process in which drivers go through to get vetted.
Steve Williams says he is a seasonal worker in Chatham-Kent looking for possible employment during the off-season. He says he became interested in possibly driving for Uber after seeing the cars in Florida.
"It looks like they have nice vehicles and the drivers look like they're not shady," he says.
Williams says he feels that Uber seems safer compared to cab companies.
Scott Primeau is another resident that is interested in the service coming to Chatham-Kent.
"I do a lot of travelling and when I do travel, I use Uber exclusively. We have functions at our home here where we bring people in from out of country and town...the first question that they ask us when they get to town is 'Is Uber here?'" says Primeau.
Primeau adds that Uber seems to safer to him, too.
"I feel it's a little more secure in that, first of all, when I'm in an Uber vehicle I don't have a flag saying that there's money in this car and also the Uber app tells me exactly what I'm going to pay before I get in the car," says Primeau.
